NEWARK, Del. - - A 2-0 lead and a failed penalty kick with 20 seconds left in the second overtime led the Wilmington University women's soccer team to a 2-2 tie with Nyack on Saturday afternoon at the WU Athletics Complex during the teams annual Breast Cancer Awareness match.
With the tie and a win by Philadelphia over Felician, the Wildcats (5-4-2, 5-1-1 CACC) fell to two points back of the Rams in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference standings with 16 points overall. Nyack (4-5-1, 4-2-1 CACC) stays in the mix, picking up a point to move to 13 overall and remains in fifth place.
The Warriors stormed back to score the final two goals of the match, first in the 38th minute and then leveled the game with a goal in the 88th minute. But it was the opportunities the Wildcats couldn't convert on that tells the real story of the match.
Looking to keep pace atop the CACC standings, the Wildcats were looking for three points and the win, and came storming out of the gates early. Jenna Quaranta put the home team in front with her fourth goal of the season in the 16th minute, receiving a long ball over the top from Vikki Zipf that put her one-on-one with the Warrior's keeper.
Seven minutes later, Chelsea Grace added to the Wildcats lead as the junior took a through ball down the middle from Penelope Fantis for a breakaway with the keeper, scoring her third goal of the campaign. But that would be all the Wildcats could muster for the rest of the game.
The Warriors got on the board with a goal in the 38th minute as Sabrina Caires took a shot from 20 yards out that beat Wildcat keeper Amanda Walters in the upper right corner for her first goal of the game.
In the second half, Stacey Cervantes tied the game in the 88th minute, heading home a cross from Julia Losert for her team leading fourth goal of the year.
Zipf and Grace had a golden opportunity late in the second half to make it a 3-1 ballgame, but the keeper's best friend saved the Warriors. From a distance, Zipf put a ball up from the right sideline, beating the keeper high but couldn't sneak up the crossbar as the ball stayed out. On the rebound, Grace had it on her foot and an open goal, but her shot sailed high to keep the match at 2-1 in the 74th minute.
The most obvious soccer scoring chance came in the second overtime as the Warriors were called for a hand ball inside the penalty box with 20 seconds remaining in the game. Fantis stepped to the spot and went left, but the ball hit the post and carried wide, keeping the visitors alive once more.
Wearing pink uniforms and using a pink game ball in conjunction with the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition for today's game, Wilmington outshot the Warriors, 16-12, while each team took five corners. Walters made six saves for the Wildcats while Nyack's Madeline Barbarino needed to make six saves for the tie.
The Wildcats remain at home for the third match of their four-game home-stand next Saturday, October 6. They will host Concordia in a soccer doubleheader, with the first game starting at 12 p.m.
